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Foreword 

From Washington's Fifth Annual Address 

"/ cannot recommend to your notice measures 
for the fulfillment of our duties to the rest of 
the world, without again pressing upon you the 
necessity of placing ourselves in a condition of 
co7nplete defence and of exacting from them the 
fulfillment of their duties toward us. The 
United States ought not to indulge a , per suasion 
that, contrary to the order of human events, 
they will forever keep at a distance those pain- 
ful appeals to arms with which the history of 
every other nation abounds. There is a rank 
due to the United States among nations which 
will be withheliL:if not absolutely lost, by the 
reputation of 'weakness. If we desire to avoid 
insult, we must be able to repel it; if we desire 
to secure peace, one of the most powerful 
instruments of our rising prosperity, it must be 
known that we are at all times ready for war." 



World Rulers of Darkness, and Spiritual 

Wickedness in High Places ; or, The 

Devil in the Kaiser. 

"For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, hut against 
principalities and powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, 
against the spiritual hosts of this wickedness in the high places." — 
Ephesians vi, 12. 

The Bible deals with four master subjects: God; Man; the World 
That Now is; and That to Come. All other matters are auxiliary 
and subsidiary to these; and over all is God. He is the God, not of 
the Jew only, but also of the Gentile; the God of Peace and the 
God of War; the God of all the Earth and the Judge of all Nations. 
His peculiar people are gathered into His church ; but those without 
are not free from His moral and sovereign government and judgment. 
If we are to be intelligent Christians as well as loyal citizens and 
patriots, we must fully — or at least adequately — acquaint ourselves 
with the revelation which God has made of Himself, as contained in 
the written word and in the Eternal Word; and in the commentary 
on that revelation found in the pages of human history. 

Every real Christian is a true patriot and a loyal citizen of that 
country and government to which he belongs. As a Christian, he 
must fulfill his duties as a citizen; and as a citizen and patriot, he 
must show forth the virtues of Christ whether in peace or in war. 
It is because of these truths that I am this morning calling your 
attention to the fact that, in this war, we are as truly fighting a 
spiritual battle (though with material weapons) as when we are dealing 
with the natural temptation arising from the lusts of our flesh, fired 
and stimulated by the "principalities and powers" of Satan. The 
forces engaged in this war are not only those of this world, but of 
that invisible world which is tangent to and interpenetrates it. It 
is one of our cardinal mistakes that we too frequently overlook the 
fact of this other — though at present invisible — world, which the apos- 
tle calls the "world to come." The invisible forces engaged in this 
conflict are, on the one hand, the Spirit of God and His Christ, and 
the holy angels; and on the other hand, the hosts of spiritual wicked- 
ness, called "principalities and powers and world rulers of this dark- 
ness." We may not leave God out of this fight, nor dare we ignore 
the "prince of the power of the air, the spirit that now worketh in 
the children of disobedience;" and "the spiritual hosts of this wick- 
edness in the high places" of the world. 

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The progress of the human race toward its appointed destiny is 
like the course of a mighty river. Its normal course from the moun- 
tains, whence it rises, toward the ocean is peaceful and quiet; but 
along its peaceful course it meets with obstacles which it must either 
go around or combat and overleap. These obstacles disturb its peace, 
and throw its waters into confusion and turmoil. Sometimes these 
disturbances are comparatively trivial. Sometimes they make only 
small ripples. Sometimes these obstacles are more serious, and throw 
the otherwise peaceful waters into wild and turbulent confusion. 
Sometimes the river passes along by a course of least resistance, mak- 
ing it to meander and divert itself from a straight course, though its 
general direction is always toward the ocean. Sometimes the waters 
take a wild leap over a precipice, as at Niagara, and foam down on 
to a lower level, throwing up clouds of spray, and, with a mighty roar, 
rush through the great gorge of broken rock, farther on making what 
we call the Whirlpool Rapids. But all along the course, whether with 
peaceful flow or with wild contention, it is the same river. Sometimes 
for miles or long distances the river is utilized for peaceful purposes, 
turning the wheels of industry, or irrigating the thirsty land. Some- 
times the waters broaden out into great lakes, bearing on their bosom 
the travel and commerce of nations. These peaceful stretches may 
represent to us the times of Peace; but when the same river is seen 
in contention with rocky obstructions or plunging over Niagara-like 
precipices, and rushing through a mighty gorge, it represents to us 
War. 

Whether in the course of time the history of the world is marked 
by peace or war, let us not forget that the human race is moving stead- 
ily on toward its final destiny. In either case, we must accept war 
as normal as peace; and we must adjust ourselves to either condition 
in which we find ourselves. This double process will continue till "He 
comes whose right it is to reign." Then will "the sword be beaten 
into the plowshare and the spear into the pruning hook." Only the 
Christian can contemplate war with undisturbed mind, for he knows 
that God is over all, making the wrath and wickedness of man to 
praise Him, while restraining the remainder of wrath ; and will at 
last bring in that kingdom which is "righteousness, peace, and the 
joy of the Holy Ghost." 

I. THE BIBLE WARS 

The story of war as recorded in the Bible is both interesting and 
instructive, and no doubt has been so recorded for our learning and 
profit. 

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Abraham, the father of the faithful, went out to war against the 
tive confederate kings who came up against Sodom, sacked and plun- 
dered it, and carried its citizens away into slavery. He mustered his 
little army, not for conquest, but to rescue his nephew Lot, and restore 
to their homes the citizens of Sodom — the city of Lot. It was a little 
war for kin and humanity. That it was an unselfish and a God-fear- 
ing war is testified by the fact that when the King of Sodom offered 
Abraham all the spoil as a reward, he declined it, saying that he would 
not "take from a thread to a shoe-latchet, lest any man should say 
that the King of Sodom had made Abraham rich." In this he was 
commended by the appearance to him of that strange character Mel- 
chizedek, the priest of the Most High God, and the King of Salem, 
or the "king of peace." At that time this Melchizedek caused Abraham 
to lift up his eyes toward the north, and toward the south, and toward 
the east, and toward the west, as far as his eyes could see, and gave 
all that land to him and to his descendants for an inheritance. That 
Melchizedek was an early adumbration of the Lord Jesus Christ. 
The land which he bestowed upon Abraham was His to bestow, for ^ 
"the land is mine, saith the Lord." 

The wars of Moses and Joshua were righteous wars, both for the 
deliverance of God's people from the bondage of Egypt and to put them 
in possession of the inheritance which, four hundred years before, 
God had given to Abraham. To some, the motives and principles 
underlying the war for the conquest of Canaan may seem to have 
been mere motives of conquest. As a matter of fact, they were for 
punishment and reconstruction. The land of Canaan was filled with 
a race whose wickedness smelled to heaven, and so stank with iniquity 
that the very land is said to have vomited them forth. There are 
some conditions in the human race which are so vile that only a 
mighty operation of Divine surgery can cure them. Such was the 
case before the Flood, when God saw that the wickedness of the people 
was great and the thoughts of their hearts were only evil, and that 
continually. So He overthrew the world that then was with the 
Flood, sparing only righteous Noah and his family. So it was in 
the case of Sodom and Gomorrah, which He destroyed with fire and 
brimstone falling from the heavens. Had God spared the old world 
before the Flood; or Sodom and Gomorrah; or the vile people of 
Canaan, the whole human race would have been corrupted beyond 
recovery. Thus, the wars of Joshua were punitive. But the conquest 
of Canaan was also for construction. In that land, and as a sequel 
to the terrible wars of Joshua, God set up the beginning of a king- 
dom whose corner-stone was the recognition of the one and only true 
God, and the principles of which were righteousness, holiness and 

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truth; whose people were to be His people, and the custodians of 
that revelation of mercy and truth which should be for the regenera- 
tion of the world. But for that war of conquest there would have 
been no Hebrew race, and no Divine-human Son of God, descended 
from Abraham, and the Saviour of the world. There would have been 
no Gospel of God, and nothing in the world but the absolute reign of 
wickedness in the high places of the earth. We can give no more 
time to this feature of history than to say, in passing, that all the 
great heroes of faith were men of war: Abraham, Joshua, Gideon, 
David, and all the good kings onward to the heroic Maccabees. We 
are the inheritors of their victorious wars of righteousness. 

We all agree that war is deplorable, so are all the forces of evil 
that bring about war; and yet we are told by our Lord that "wars 
must needs be," though it is woe to them or him by whom war comes! 
So far as we can read the New Testament, war itself is not forbidden, 
and those who practice the art of war are not condemned for so doing. 
Among the first disciples of John the Baptist were Roman soldiers, 
who, when they were converted and baptized, asked what they should 
do, were told not to give up their profession as soldiers — only, not 
to abuse their power by doing violence, and to be content with their 
wages. Among the early disciples of Jesus was a Roman centurion 
whose servant Jesus healed, and concerning whom Jesus said that 
He had not found so great faith in Israel. He did not reproach 
him for being a soldier or command him to give up his profession 
of arms. Cornelius was the first of the Gentile converts. He was 
a Roman soldier, a devout man, one who feared God with all his 
house — a man of prayer and generous alms-giving. To him God sent 
His angel, and to Peter He gave a vision that he should visit Cor- 
nelius, whose alms and prayers had come up to Him as acceptable 
sacrifices, and declare to him the good news of grace and salvation. 
In after instruction there is no hint that his profession as a soldier was 
wrong or one to be given up. The Philippian jailer was an old soldier, 
and a multitude of the early converts to Christ were soldiers in Caesar's 
armies. Our Lord Himself is the "Captain of our Salvation"; and the 
last great attack on the Kingdom of God by Satan and the apostate 
nations will be met by the Lamb of God, "the Captain of our Salva- 
tion," with his highest saints, his called and chosen and faithful ones, 
who will fight and overcome the Evil One and the wicked nations. 

However we may read these conflicts between the forces of wick- 
edness and righteousness, whether they were physical or spiritual, 
they at least show that Christianity is a fighting religion, always 
in conflict with wickedness. Sometimes the conflict is purely spiritual ; 
but not unfrequently wickedness can only be fought with material 

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weapons of war, as might abundantly be shown by an appeal to 
history. As an illustration, we cite you to the history of our own 
country and her wars. 

II. AMERICA'S SEVEN WARS 

I have said that every Christian should be a patriot, and every 
true patriot a Christian. This happy solidarity of Christianity and 
patriotism is not always seen, even in what we may justly call a holy 
war; but there are times when Christianity and patriotism are so 
identified, the one with the other, that they become one service and 
calling. In this case it may not be amiss briefly to call your attention 
to our seven wars. 

1. The Revolutionary War. This was a war forced upon our 
fathers by a mad German king seated upon the English throne. For 
long years the peaceful. God-fearing American colonists had suffered 
every civil, political and religious wrong which a tyrannical govern- 
ment could commit against them, a people in whose breasts reigned 
the principles of righteousness and peace; and in whom God had 
planted a spirit of love of liberty. At length the time came, after 
exhausting every peaceful means for redress and justice, and when 
they were confronted by the soldiers of the Anglo-German king, that 
the colonists took up arms in defense. Then our fathers published 
that immortal document known the world over as "The Declaration of 
Independence," in which is set forth the fact that "all men were 
created free and equal," and that all men had the inherent right to 
"life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." The old Liberty Bell that 
still hangs in Independence Hall has cast upon its lower rim the old 
Hebrew trumpet-call which proclaimed "Liberty throughout the whole 
land." That tocsin of Liberty has sounded in all our wars. The 
successful prosecution of the war of the Revolution through seven 
long years of sacrifice, resulted in the establishment of the Great 
American Republic, and "a government of the people, by the people, 
and for the people." In that war our fathers set up a beacon-light, 
established an example, and sounded forth a trumpet-call to the world, 
summoning them to be true to their inalienable right to "life, liberty, 
and the pursuit of happiness." During that war our fathers sowed • 
the seeds of religious and political liberty in the hearts of the people 
of the whole world. The success of that war of our fathers not only 
set us free, but it set free the people of other lands. But for that 
war, fought to a victorious finish, France and England would still 
be under the despotic rule of the Bourbons and the Stewarts, and the 
"divine right of kings" would still be the accepted doctrine and law 
of governments the world over; and the American continent would 

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have perpetually been a land of subject colonies. There is no sane 
living man in the world today who would say that the American Revo- 
lution was a wicked or an unjustifiable war; or that those engaged in 
it on the side of the Colonists were other than a righteous and God- 
fearing people. A great English statesman once said, in my presence, 
that "the greatest victory England ever won was when Lord Corn- 
wallis surrendered his sword to Washington at Yorktown." The ulti- 
mate downfall of the tyrannical political power now regnant in the 
Teutonic states — the equivalent of the "spiritual wickedness in high 
places," was signalized by our revolutionary fathers. The first guns 
fired in the present tvar were fired in the little Massachusetts town 
of Concord, and on Bunker Hill. The present war is only a continua- 
tion of the fight began there for American liberty, only now that war 
is extended and continued for the liberty of the whole world. Th^n 
we fought a mad German king on the English throne; now we are 
fighting the mad and devil-Hdden Kaiser and his subordinate allies of 
Austria and Turkey and their minor dependents and satellites. 

2. Our War with the Barbary States. Scarcely had we drawn 
breath from our Revolutionary War, when a piratical power in the 
North of Africa dared to hold up, for tribute, our ships in the Mediter- 
ranean Sea. We were still a feeble folk, with what Germany would 
have called a "contemptible little navy"; but we were out for the de- 
fense of the rights and liberties we had won less than a score of years 
before. Proud England and Fi-ance, and all the European powers, 
had tamely submitted to the blackmail of that pirate kingdom. Not 
so the young American Republic! We sent our Commodore Preble 
and young Stephen Decatur, and challenged that power, demanding 
freedom for American ships and American citizens to pursue their 
legitimate business the world over without let or hindrance. There 
at Tripoli was fought a sea-fight for liberty, as signal and glorious 
as ever was fought on the sea. Almost single-handed, young Deca- 
tur, ignoring or failing to see the signal of his commodore to retire, 
met and overcame the Tripolitan pirate king, and made the Mediter- 
ranean a free sea for all the world. There the name of Stephen 
Decatur was added to that of Paul Jones, and all the world came to 
know that the American navy was a force to be reckoned with. I 
feel sure that the modern assassin of the sea will yet taste the quality 
of American seamanship and valor. 

3. The Second War with England. Arrogant and truculent, still 
smarting under the Revolutionary defeat, England assumed, in defi- 
ance of all rights or reason, to hold up and search our ships and im- 
press our citizens into her naval service. Again we challenged the 
power which presumed to deny our rights, and fought to a successful 

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conclusion, not without serious loss and great sacrifice, the War of 
1812. A war waged for the freedom of the seas. Today England 
recognizes that right; and stands with us, ship to ship, in defense of 
the principles we fought for in 1812 and are now fighting for in defi- 
ance of the modern assassins of the sea. No longer shall it be 
tolerated that American ships shall sail the sea 61/ the grace of Ger- 
many; and never again shall it be tolerated that these murderers of 
the sea may slaughter our women and children at their wicked will. 
The denial by Germany of the right of American citizens to sail the 
high sea in pursuit of their legitimate business or pleasure, has brought 
on this war, or at least our part in it. No one, today, denies the 
righteousness of our war with England in 1812. It cost us sore in 
precious lives and in treasure; but the principles contended for and 
won were worth more than all the sacrifices of life and treasure 
it cost. No one but an open enemy or a secret ally of Germany 
will deny the justice of our course in entering this war in alliance 
with England, France, Russia and Italy, in our determination to put 
down forever the modern Huns of Germany — the butchers of women 
and children on the land and on the sea! 

4. Our War with Mexico in 1847. On our part that was not 
an aggressive war, but one of defense against the marauding attacks 
of the Mexicans on our southern border. It is true that the outcome 
of that war brought under our flag and government a vast territory 
on the Pacific coast whose value and wealth was at that time unknown 
to us or our enemies. This war is the only one in which we have 
ever been engaged, the righteousness of which has been questioned. 
Nevertheless, we did not provoke it, and in the successful prosecution 
of it we only acted in aggressive self-defense. What would be the 
condition of our country today if all the territory north and west 
of Texas were under the dominance of such a country as Mexico. 
I hold that the results of that war, not in territorial acquisition, but 
in its righteous and civil benefit to the world, are its best justification. 

5. The Civil War of 1860-65. One need hardly speak of this 
great epoch-making war — one of the greatest in history. It had for 
its motives three great ends : The preservation of the American Union ; 
the destruction of the doctrine of Secession; and the abolition of 
human slavery. The Government of the United States was not the 
aggressor in this terrible war. The Southern States assumed the right 
to secede from the Union and establish an independent Confederacy 
of the Southern States, whose corner-stone was to be human slavery. 
It was the South and not the North that fired the first gun in this 
war. Every means to bring about a settlement of the controversy 

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between the slave and the free states had been exhausted. South 
Carolina seceded and other states followed, and then the guns of the 
South were opened upon Fort Sumter. So war was declared, or at 
least the United States Government took up arms, not for conquest, 
but for the preservation of the Union; and for nearly five bloody years 
the war was fought out to a finish. The doctrine of the supremacy 
of state sovereignty over that of the national government was for- 
ever settled; slavery was abolished and the rather loosely bound union 
of the states was cemented into a great National Union, "one and 
indivisible." For the first time in her history, the United States of 
America became a great nation. No one rejoices in the outcome of 
that terrible war more heartily than do our Southern fellow-citizens 
whose fathers lost out in the conflict. The victory of the Union over 
the Confederacy was as great a victory for the Southern States as 
it was for the United States. There are today no Americans more 
loyal to the Union and the flag under which we all live, than the men 
of the South. The deck of the little gunboat, the first to be fired 
upon by the Spaniards in the war of 1898, was stained with the 
blood of a Massachusetts officer, the son of a Union soldier, the son 
of an ex-Confederate officer, and that of a negro freed by the war 
for the Union. Thus in the commingled blood of a Northern and 
Southern man, and that of a freed African slave, has been told the 
story of a cemented and indissoluble union. 

6. The Spanish War of 1898. Perhaps no war in all time was 
ever undertaken in such a pure spirit of benevolence and altruism. 
For centuries Spain, that country and government whose soldiers 
and delegated rulers had cursed every land upon whose territory 
they set their unholy feet, had oppressed the Cuban people. The 
Cuban people were ground under heel; men, women and children 
who refused to submit without a murmur of protest, were gathered 
into concentration camps, starved and murdered. No appeal for 
human rights, self-government or justice was listened to. At last 
America, at whose front door these outrages against humanity and 
all political justice were committed, remembering her own struggle 
for justice and liberty, intervened, declared war on Spain, and lib- 
erated Cuba from Spanish tyranny. Not for spoil of land or money; 
not for political ambition or territorial expansion; not for war in- 
demnity, did we fight; but for the freedom of an oppressed people, 
whose independence we gave to them as a free gift and have stood 
by during their period of reconstruction. 

7. The Present Struggle. We are now facing the most gigantic 
struggle of our history or in the history of the whole w^orld. Every 
resource of our great country is being mobilized and commandeered 

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for this fight with the most ruthless, lawless, and wicked political 
power that ever has arisen in the course of the progress of the human 
race. The outcome of this war will mean either the establishment 
of a righteous peace, and liberty for all the nations and people of the 
earth; or their enslavement to a power not less than Satanic. I have 
no more question of the duty of every loyal Christian patriot to enter 
into this war with all that he is and has, than I have for the Christian 
man to resist the devil, the prince of darkness and the enemy of God 
and all mankind. I doubt if we are even half-awake to the momen- 
tous issues, spiritual and material, involved in this conflict, and I 
would fain urge upon my fellow-Christian patriots to consider well 
the underlying principles, motive and powers, involved. 

At this point I wish especially to call attention to the fact and 
to emphasize it, that in no conflict with other powers have we been 
the aggressor and in no war have we sought territorial extension or 
war indemnities or any material gain. If any advantage has in any 
case fallen to us it has been a by-product, and not any direct object 
we had in going to war. Even when we have been the first to declare 
war, that action has been defensive on our part, just as when, through 
our police and other civic arms, we fight filth and disease germs and 
vice and crime, it is for the protection of our homes and our health 
and our property and the general well-being of the community in 
which we live. This is what I mean by an aggressive defensive. If 
we have declared war on Germany it is not because we have any selfish 
aim in view ; but to protect our homes, our political freedom, and 
our right to enjoy undisturbed our life and our liberty and the pursuit 
of our happiness. The apostolic injunction "as far as it be possible to 
live peaceably with all men," applies as well to nations as to indi- 
viduals. I do not hesitate to say that as a nation we have gone the 
limit of "possibility" with Germany; so that there is left us no choice 
but to "fight for peace," alike for ourselves and for the whole world; 
for the time has come to nations as well as to men to seek not alone 
our own good, but the good and well-being of our neighbors. It is only 
as we clearly grasp the underlying principles of Christianity that we 
can worthily go into this war; but having so grasped and assimilated 
them, we may with absolute unreserve "put on the whole armor of 
God" and fight until we stand victorious on this world battlefield. 

III. THE GOD OF PEACE AND THE MEN OF PEACE 

At this time there is current among us a good deal of maudlin 
sentiment respecting peace, as though the only underlying principle 
of the Christian life was that of peace. In the application of that 
sentiment our pacifist friends (or enemies) would have us keep the 

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peace "at any price," even to submitting to the overrunning and over- 
ruling of our country by the most ruthless military despotism the 
world has ever known, and to submit without protest to the spoliation 
of our property, the wresting away of our liberties, and the murder of 
our women and children on the high seas and their ravishment and 
mutilation on the land. I wonder that these pacifists, who plead 
conscience and the teachings of Christ, ever put a lock on their doors, 
call a policeman to arrest a burglar or to protect them from murder; 
or summon the fire department to "fight" the fire that threatens their 
home. These are all phases of war, only in other spheres of life. 
When you "shoot" the bolt on your door in the face of a thief, you ar§ 
at war. I wonder they do not protest against the war we are making 
against disease, against the foul streets of our city, the devil of sti'ong 
drink and the crimes of the white slavery. All because they say that 
Christianity teaches the practice of peace and the doctrines of non- 
resistance of evil. Is burglary an evil, is fire an evil, is murder an 
evil, is the saloon traffic an evil, are the scourges of consumption, and 
smallpox, and scarlet fever, and diphtheria, and infantile paralysis, 
evils? Then let them say: "The Master teaches us not to resist evil, 
but to submit to it," and forever go on turning the other cheek and 
giving ourselves up to every enemy that attacks us. Why should we 
ever fight anything? Why should there be any kind of armor to put 
on if the doctrine of non-resistance is to be interpreted in the terms 
of the pacifist apostles of "peace at any price." Let the world, the 
flesh and the devil have their way with us and finish us off at once 
and be done with it! 

We must not forget that though God is a God of peace. He is not 
yet a "pacifist God." For we are told that "the God of peace shall 
bruise Satan under our feet shortly." Here is the God of peace stamp- 
ing under foot the ruler of all evil and doing it "under our feet," — 
that is, we are the soldiers with whom God fights Satan. The Christian 
man is a man of peace, but only when and "as far as it is possible to live 
peaceably tvith all men." The Christian is always a "good soldier of 
Jesus Christ" and must always "fight the good fight of faith." This fight 
is not confined to one sphere of activity; but wherever the fight is, he 
must be fully armed and do his "bit" valiantly for God and righteous- 
ness. The soldiers of Jesus Christ are never "pacifists" in the face 
of the enemies of righteousness, of truth, of justice and humanity. 
Wherever these enemies lift their heads, whether in the saloon, the 
red-light districts of our own country, or on the battlefields of the 
world, the good soldier of Christ must be there resisting the tyranny of 
human despots, inspired by the devil to crush out the liberties of 
the people. 

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IV. THE CAUSE OF CHRISTIAN WARFARE, AND WHO ARE 
OUR ENEMIES 

If I now call your attention to a bit of Biblical exposition I trust 
you will see its bearing. Almost all Christians have read John Bun- 
yan's wonderful allegory called "Pilgrim's Progress." Very few, I 
fear, have read his "Holy War," a much stronger and more masterful 
work than "Pilgrim's Progress." I would advise all of you to get a 
copy of the "Holy War" and read it, not only once but twice and 
three times and then again. I can only hope in a brief sermon to 
indicate some of the important truths suggested by the allegory of our 
text. 

If we are to get to the bottom of the cause and reason for this 
war and for the necessity of putting on the whole armor of God, we 
must consider: 

1. The Enemies Inherent m Our Own Fallen Nature. Every 
Christian soldier should go into this war as a victor over the enemies 
in his own life. "I know," says Paul, "that in me, that is in my flesh, 
there dwelleth no good thing." It is then first of all needful to look 
within our own hearts for the enemies against whom we must first 
arm ourselves and fight. James asks this question: "From whence 
come ivars and fightings among you?" And he answers by another 
question: "Come they not hence, even of your lusts which war in your 
meinbers?" Peter exhorts his brethren after this fashion: "Dearly 
beloved, I beseech you, as pilgrims and strangers, abstain from filthy 
lusts which war against the soul." The word translated "lusts" in 
our common version is more properly rendered in the revised version, 
"pleasures" — the things that are pleasing to the depraved cravings 
of the natural man. Paul says of himself: "I find another law in 
my members, tvarring against the law of my mind, bringing me into 
captivity to the law of sin, which is in my members." Again Paul ex- 
horts us "to cleanse ourselves from all filthiness of the flesh and the 
spirit." We know also the word of this great apostle which tells us 
that "the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the 
flesh." Here, then, we find our first enemies — those within our own 
selves. Here we must make our first fight; and it will require that 
we put on the whole armor of God and stand manfully against these 
inward enemies, perfecting holiness in the fear of the Lord. Let every 
Christian go into the war as a victor over the lusts of the flesh. 

2. Spii'itual Enemies not Ourselves. These are called "princi- 
palities and powers, the world rulers of this darkness; the spiritual 
hosts of wickedness." The fight would be sufficiently hard if only we 
had to deal with the natural and carnal enemies inherent in our own 

13 



fallen nature; but we are here warned that there are spiritual agencies 
who enter our lives and stir up and set on fire evil tendencies within 
us. The head of this confederacy of spiritual powers is the devil him- 
self, whom Paul calls "the prince of the power of the air, the spirit 
that now worketh in the children of disobedience," and who is else- 
where called "the tempter" and "the accuser of the brethren." 

It is not my present purpose, neither is it necessary for me to dis- 
cuss the reality and personality of the devil and his hosts of diabolic 
subordinates and allies, all engaged in this war against Christ and His 
people. Our Lord well knew the reality of the devil, for He had per- 
sonally met and fought with him in the wilderness, on the temple 
pinnacle and on the mountain. All through His earthly life He 
fought with the devil, and in His last hours He said: "This is your 
hour and the power of darkness." He warned Peter that the devil 
had a "desire to sift him as corn is sifted in a sieve," but assured him 
that He had prayed for him that his faith failed not. In every epistle 
save only James and Philemon, the reality and personality of the devil 
is recognized as our arch enemy. "Your adversary the devil," he is 
called. "He goeth about like a roaring lion," or he appears as "an 
angel of light." He attacks us openly or subtilely. "We are not 
ignorant of his devices." The Christian who denies or ignores the 
personality and power of the devil is doubly exposed to defeat. There- 
fore are we exhorted to "resist the devil, steadfast in the faith." There 
is no more reason to question the reality of this evil spirit and his 
subordinate lieutenants than we have to question the existence and 
active agency of the Holy Spirit and the angelic hosts of God, always 
working for our salvation. John tells us to "try the spirits whether 
they are of God." This is to guard us against the subtle wiles of 
the devil. 

In this confederacy of evil spiritual powers we have an explana- 
tion of the phrase, "We wrestle not against flesh or blood, but against 
principalities and powers." It may be asked how are we to recognize 
and fight against these spiritual foes? Well, let us clearly under- 
stand that we are contending not with abstractions or merely evil 
tendencies within ourselves; nor on the other hand with gross mate- 
rialistic manifestations of the devil, as portrayed in the fabulous 
stories of the Middle Ages; but with these principalities and powers 
as they breathe their fiery breaths, called "the fiery darts of the devil," 
upon our natural passions and carnal desires; and especially as they 
embody themselves in human personalities, social conditions and cir- 
cumstances. Let us see if we can make this plain. Take for instance 
the story of our Lord's temptation in the wilderness and on the other 
fields. It is not likely that the devil appeared to Him as the devil, 

14 



but rather in the person of some man. It may have been some influen- 
tial acquaintance of Jesus who went to Him there in the wilderness 
and argued the whole question with Him. Failing the wilderness 
temptation, he then urged upon Him the spectacular leap from the 
pinnacle of the temple, and failing in that he sought to persuade Him 
that the short cut toward the kingdom of God was through "all the 
kingdoms of this world," to be won as other great men had sought to 
win them by physical conquest or by the exercise of His Divine power; 
to which the devil would lend all his aid with all his resources. If 
this seems fanciful to you, let me remind you that on one occasion 
Peter was so under the spiritual influence of (or so possessed by) 
Satan that the Lord addressed him as Satan, saying: "Get thee 
behind me, Satan; thou art an offense to me." Again, we are told the 
devil entered into Judas and led him on to the betrayal of the Lord. 
The devil could tempt our Lord, but he could not possess Him as he did 
Judas and Peter. The fact might be further proved and illustrated; 
but the point I wish to make is that our enemy comes to us not 
simply as an unseen spiritual tempter, but often as one embodied in 
some human or material form, or in the control of some custom. 
For instance, if he wishes to stir up the carnal lusts of the lower 
half of our nature, he does it through the lure of some man or woman. 
If he wants to stir us up to drunkenness, he does it through the lure 
of beautiful women who offer us a cup of wine, or some congenial 
friend or club member or social companion who invites us to drink; 
or even some well-intentioned physician who prescribes alcoholic drink 
to some one with a tendency or appetite for drink. For the lure of the 
masses he organizes and controls the liquor traffic (no wonder by 
common consent it is called the devil's business!), dominates the Great 
White Way of Broadway, the Red Light districts of all cities, the 
public dance halls where many young women (and among them not 
a few Christian girls) are lured to ruin, disgrace and death. If he 
wants to awaken and fire our lusts for riches, he does it through some 
"get rich quick" promoter or some more respectable business schemes 
or questionable business methods whereby we may get rich at the 
expense of righteousness and the rights of our customers, business 
associates or employees. Paul tells Timothy that "they that will be 
rich fall into temptation and a snare which drown men in destruc- 
tion and perdition." These snares and temptations are again and 
again ascribed to the agency of the devil. No one can read without 
a shudder the condemnation by James of avarice fired by the devil. 
Surely if ever the devil was busy with this class of men "in high 
places" it is now. In my mind I have called this sermon "The Devil in 
the Kaiser." Such a title might well be given to our greedy and 

15 



unscrupulous food speculators and extortioners and all the devilish 
vampires that are feeding and fattening upon the unfortunate cir- 
cumstances of the present war. Surely "the god of this world," "the 
prince of the power of the air" is busy these days; not only in the 
saloon and the Red Light districts and other popular places that 
appeal to our lust of pleasure, but in every place and man where he 
can enter. Be sure that in contending with the common lusts and 
lures of our lower natures we are also fighting "principalities and 
powers and the rulers of the darkness of this world." It is not that 
our natural passions and appetites and desires are in themselves evil, 
but that, when they are seized upon, directed and controlled by the 
agency of the "prince of the power of the air," then they are enemies. 
It seems sometimes to me that God's people are the very slowest to 
recognize the fact of Satanic influence and dominance. Again and 
again are we taught and instructed that the outbreaking of all forms 
of worldliness, lasciviousness and wickedness in the individual and in 
business and society is under the direct inspiration and leadership of 
the devil. Even the worldly man and the common social observer 
recognize and understand this. It is frequently on the lips of the 
"man of the street," when commenting on certain forms or incidents 
of crime and wickedness, to say: "This is the devil's work." Was it 
the miserable Italian who murdered Ruth Cruger or was it Satan in 
the man, who had in a careless and sinful life "given place to the 
devil"? Our Saviour has told us that the devil is a liar and a mur- 
derer from the beginning. As he possessed and inspired Cain to 
murder Abel, and Judas to betray Him, so he is always using human 
instrumentalities "who give place to him" to commit all forms of wick- 
edness. If we are not mindful of this fact and "resist the devil stead- 
fast in the faith," he will catch us with our helmet up and our shield 
down and enter in and take us captive, and make us fight his battles 
or do his dirty work, as the Germans do to the Belgians. 

3. Spiritual Wickedness in High Places. The sphere of Satanic 
activity is not alone in the individual life; nor does he confine himself 
to the business of destroying the individual Christian. He seeks also 
to destroy the peace and prosperity of the Church, and the very Church 
itself; and this he does by the use of men whom he possesses, as he 
possessed Judas and as he sought to use Peter to turn the Lord away 
from his appointed death. Thus he foments divisions and discords in 
the Church, stirring up "evil men and seducers" whom Paul call's 
"grievous wolves." Verily, we do wrong and foolishly to ignore the 
presence of spiritual wickedness in the high or heavenly places of 
Christ — that is, in His Church. We are too prone to look upon many 

16 



of the evils in the Church simply as the result of backsliding, worldly, 
carnally-minded members. This is so, but it is moi'e tru.y so, that 
these are they who have "given place to the devil" and become his 
willing instruments and tools. We are fighting not against mere flesh 
and blood enemies, but against spiritual wickedness in high places. 
There is no time to pursue this subject or at least this phase of the 
subject; only, let me remind you that the devil is unceasing in his 
efforts to destroy the "work of God, which is righteousness and peace," 
wherever these great characteristics of the Kingdom of God are 
found — in the individual, the Church, the communitj' or in human 
governments. 

THE FINAL PURPOSE OF THE DEVIL 

is to get possession of the whole world and all the kingdoms of it. It 
is beyond my purpose and the limits of the present time to go into any 
extended examination of the great world prophecies of Daniel and the 
Revelation of John. Even the most casual reader of God's word must 
recall that there have again and again appeared great world rulers 
who have sought the universal subjection of all people to their despotic 
power. A hint of the Satanic agency in connection with these earthly 
rulers is seen in that unique character, the Prince of Persia (Daniel 
x) , who was withstood by the archangel Michael. The interesting 
prophetic history of Daniel ought carefully to be studied in the light 
of the present time. The four great conquerors who have sought uni- 
versal empire — Nebuchadnezzar, Darius, Alexander of Macedon, and 
the Roman Cassars — all claimed and received Divine honors and were 
worshipped as God. In the present war-cry of Germany, "Deutschland 
uber Alles !" we hear the echo of those Satanic human autocrats of 
the pre-Christian era. But they all failed. The last of these world 
powers, that of Rome, was broken up into minor kingdoms and has 
never since been united under one political head, though many attempts 
have been made to do so. These broken-up political kingdoms are tne 
ten toes of Daniel's great image, partly of iron and partly of clay. 
Having failed in accomplishing his purpose of universal world dominion 
in these former kings, the devil on the mountain sought to achieve his 
purpose by tempting the Lord from His loyalty to the kingdom of 
God by offering Him all the "kingdoms of the world," at the price of 
worshiping Him. 

The New Testament tells us of the anti-Christ and the Man of 
Sin who is already at work and will presently be manifested in the 
person of some great political head and ruler. ThiB anti-Christ will 
be the human embodiment of the master spirit of wickedness in high 

17 



places. These great devil-possessed leaders will not cease their efforts 
to destroy the Kingdom of God and righteousness in the world until 
the devil is finally defeated in his last great effort when he leads the 
apostate nations against the Lamb and His "called and chosen and 
faithful saints" (see Rev. xvii, 14). These anti-Christian rulers are 
but the embodiments of the devil, and represent "spiritual wickedness 
in high places." The question I now have to ask you is: Has the 
Christian no duties and obligations in respect of these world rulers 
who are doing the devil's work in the world and among the nations 
of the earth? 

I do not say that the Kaiser is that arch-anti-Christ or Man of 
Sin who will lead the last attack upon the Kingdom of God; nor do I 
say that we are now fighting the battle of Armageddon; but I do 
profoundly believe that this is a great master-skirmish preliminary 
to that final struggle for the world supremacy between the forces 
of evil and those of righteousness, and that the Kaiser is a human 
embodiment of the prince of darkness, the god of this world. Every 
detail of Germany's masterly organization, extending down to the last 
hill of potatoes now growing in the fields, is remarkably like those of 
the Beast in Revelation. It is in no spirit of sensationalism that I 
have chosen for a sub-title to this sermon "THE DEVIL IN THE 
KAISER." 

I believe that this is the exact state of the case; and that there- 
fore this is by a last analysis a spiritual ivar. All who are fighting 
in it may not recognize this fact; but every Christian should recognize 
it. It is not a war waged solely by cannon and gunfire. There is 
heard on world's battlefields not only the boom of modern artillery 
and the clash of steel, but much rather is there the noiseless conflict 
of truth and righteousness against the hosts of sin and "the rulers of 
the darkness of this world and of spiritual wickedness in high places." 
If I did not believe this, if I thought this war was only a battle 
between warring nations for the spoils of the world, I would refuse 
to fight, and say, "Let the potsherds strive with the potsherds of the 
earth," but as for me I will seek the salvation of my own soul and 
do what I can to promote the spiritual church of God, and would 
have nothing to do with world wars. But, my brethren, we are in 
this war as spiritual and not as carnal men. We are fighting not 
against flesh and blood, though flesh and blood are mixed up in it, 
but against principalities and powers. We are fighting not only for 
our country and for the democracy of the world, and the freedom of 
the world, but for the Kingdom of God; for if the devil in the Kaiser 
is not put down, then the devil in the Kaiser will put us down and 
put down the Kingdom of God. If he can't get it by subtility, as he 

18 



sought to do with Christ on the mountain, he will do it by force 
through rulers in high places. With this understanding of the spiritu- 
ality of this conflict, even though fought with carnal weapons, let me 
say a last word in respect of our armor. 

V. THE CHRISTIAN'S ARMOR 

The use of allegory by the Holy Spirit, for the purpose of con- 
veying and illustrating truth, is very common. Christianity is a war- 
fare. The Christian is an athlete running a race, a boxer keeping 
his body in training by keeping it under; he is a good soldier, donning 
the whole armor of God. The Holy Spirit never uses an evil thing 
to illustrate a good thing. The good seed is the Word of God; the 
tares are the falsehoods of the devil. The good seeds are the children 
of the kingdom. The tares are the children of the devil, and Bo on. 
The Christian's armor, his sword, his helmet, his shield, his girdle, 
his greaves, and his shoes, all stand for great spiritual principles 
and qualities. It is these spiritual truths and qualities behind the 
sword and -shield and helmet that are our real weapons in this war. 
During a truce in the war of the Crusade — Richard of the Lion Heart 
and the great Saladin, the respective leaders of the Christian and the 
Moslem forces, came together; and Saladin asked to handle the great 
two-handed sword of Richard, which did such dire havoc on the battle- 
field. He was amazed to find it so crude a weapon and contrasted it 
with his own highly-tempered simitar. "What is the secret of your 
sword. King Richard?" asked the Soldan. "Soldan," said Richard, 
throwing back the sleeve of his tunic and exposing his muscular arm, 
"it is not the stvord of Richard, but the arm of Richard, which is the 
secret of its might." But there was yet something behind both the 
sword and the arm of Richard, which accounted for it. It was the 
cause of Richard, as against the cause of the Mussulman. So it is that 
the weapons of our warfare are not material swords and guns, but 
the principles and cause for which we use these weapon's. For the 
freedom of the people of the whole world ; and behind that for "right- 
eousness, peace and the joy of the Holy Ghost." 

These are the things which we must do. 

1. We must be Strong in the Lord and the Power of His Might. 
When Gideon went into battle with the Midianites his battlecry was: 
"The sword of the Lord and of Gideon!" If this is not the cause of the 
God of righteousness and peace, then we have no business in it. But 
if it is the cause of God, then we must go into it in the strength of His 
might. When Jehoshaphat went out to battle with Moab and Ammon, 

19 



he exhorted the people of God, saying, "Thus saith the Lord unto you. 
Be not afraid nor dismayed by reason of this great multitude, for the 
battle is not yours, but the Lord's." If we go into this war only with 
shot and shell, then will our weapons be carnal and our enemies only 
flesh and blood, but if our psychology is right, then our weapons will 
not be carnal, but spiritual. And this I do not hesitate to affirm. 

2. 0»r Weapons are Spiritual, though Material. When Joshua 
approached the walls of Jericho he saw a Man with a drawn sword. He 
promptly went up to him and demanded : "Art Thou for us or against 
us?" And the Man with the drawn sword answered: "Nay, but as 
Captain of the hosts of the Lord am I come." And Joshua fell on his 
face to the earth and did worship, and said unto Him, "What saith my 
Lord to his servant?" And the Captain of the Lord's host said unto 
him: "Loose thy shoe from off thy foot, for the place whereon thou 
standest is holy ground." Thus did Jehovah, the Captain of our sal- 
vation, stand with a drawn sword and general the battle for the 
conquest of the land of Canaan. Then Joshua went forward with the 
Ark, the priests, and the men of war, to the battle. The sword of the 
Lord though material was yet a spiritual weapon. It is for us to 
draw the sword but it may yet be a spiritual sword. And in the 
hand of every American Christian it will be a spiritual weapon, though 
forged out of steel. For in this war our aims are not carnal, but 
ideal and spiritual. The supreme peace for which ive are fighting is 
the peace of righteousness and justice: that the people of the whole 
ivorld may be free! 

3. Put on the Whole Ai-7nor of God. It would be folly for a sol- 
dier to go into battle half equipped. So it will be folly for us to go 
into this war half equipped. We must put into it everything we have. 
We must put our young men into it; we must put our money into it; 
we must put into it the best brains and efficiency of our commercial 
ability; we must give to it our highly trained medical and scientific 
men, as well as our engineers and railroad builders; we must put our 
farms and our riches into it; we must put our women into it — God 
bless them! — as nurses and Red Cross workers, and give to everyone 
of them a place which she can fill, releasing a man for the battlefield. 
Our army and navy and our treasury must be backed up by our whole 
resources. This is no time for hoarding vfioney or salting down profits. 
The greedy and heartless speculator and food robber must be classed 
with the alien enemy and our domestic traitors — the mere money- 
maker and the ignoble, selfish and cowardly slacker. Sir Walter Scott 
tells us a thrilling story in his "Fair Maid of Perth." Hector was the 
head of the clan; but he was a coward. In his following there was 

20 



an old clansman who was his foster-father and the father of five 
stalwart sons. All these were in the fray. When the battle was at 
its hottest and going against Hector the old clansman pushed his eldest 
son to the front, where he fell. Then he shoved his second son into 
the melee with the cry, "A bar Hector!"— "another son for Hector." 
And so, one after another, he sent his five sons to death "for Hec- 
tor." Thank God we have a nobler cause than "for Hector" for 
whom the old clansman gave his five sons; and so it doubly becomes 
us to take up that old clansman's cry, translated into our own tongue. 
Another son for God and our country and the oppressed people of the 
whole world. Already we have given our sons by the thousands and 
by the hundreds of thousands. Through the selective draft we have 
marked ten million of them for the battle ; we have flung a few billions 
of treasure into the war chest and are ready to send more billions 
after them; we have just thrown one hundred millions into the 
treasury of the Red Cross and are ready to give to them more mil- 
lions. 

4. There is no Armor for the Back. This means for us that 
there is no turning of our backs to the enemy or withdrawing from 
the fight, either at the beginning of this mighty struggle or at any 
point of time during the struggle. There can be no retreat in this 
war. When in the war with Spain an order was given to the Scotch 
bagpipers to play a retreat, the reply was: "We ha' na scarl for a 
retreat." Caesar burnt his bridges after he crossed the Rubicon. 
The Greek mother when she presented the shields to her sons, said: 
"Bring them back or come on them." When Cortez landed in Mexico 
he burnt his ships. For him and his soldiers of fortune there was 
no possibility of retreat. When the signal for retreat was given to 
Nelson at the battle of Copenhagen, he turned his blind eye to it and 
replied that he could not see the flag. General Grant said: "I propose 
to fight it out on this line if it takes all summer." These are the heroic 
examples gathered from the battle heroes of the past. They should 
mean something to us in this greatest and holiest war in history. 
American soldiers and Christian patriots have never yet retreated in 
the face of their foes; and I am sure that no American soldier will 
ever come back with a wound in his back. 

5. We Must Fight the War through to a Finish; and then, hav- 
ing done all, "Stand." Thus we are exhorted and we can do nothing 
less than that. Nothing less than all, and then stand. In the Amer- 
ican Revolution, our fathers pledged their "lives, their liberty and 
their sacred honors;" and having done all, they stood against every 
future assault upon the liberties they had won. We, their sons and 

21 



daughters, have ever since been so standing on their victorious battle- 
field, holding the ground for the freedom of the world. We are still 
standing and will continue to stand until the last foe of human free- 
dom is down in the dust; ready for any fresh assault upon the prin- 
ciples for which our fathers fought and stood and for which we still 
stand and will continue to stand armed with every piece of our armor 
on until the whole world is made safe for the people of God and for 
democracy. At the battle of Chickamauga, when the fight was going 
against us, General Thomas, in the face of orders to retreat, for the 
third time sent to General Rosecrans, begging for a division of rein- 
forcements, saying that with that help he could hold his ground. 
When the young aid started to go with his general's message he 
turned back to old Thomas and asked: "General, when I return, where 
shall I find you?" The old general turned upon him with the fierce- 
ness of a lion and with blazing eyes and stamping foot, till the earth 
fairly trembled, shouted out, "HERE!" So shall we ever reply to 
every urging that may be made as to our future position. Like 
Luther at Worms, we shall evermore say, "Here we stand. God help 
us. We can do none else." After having again and again withstood 
the tremendous assaults of the army of the Crown Prince at Verdun, 
General Retain took the stand and said: "They shall not come 
through." So we Americans have taken our stand, and our word to 
the Kaiser is, "You shall not come through!" 



22 



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